A week ahead of the June 29 deadline that LeBron James has to exercise his $35.6 million contract option for next season, Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman says he and James' representatives have already established a "good dialogue."

"We continue to have good dialogue with his management team," Altman said last night during the NBA draft via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. "I think LeBron has more than earned the right to approach his contracts the way he does. He's done that before, so this is nothing new for us.

"We want to respect his space during this process, and I continue to have really good dialogue with his management team as he goes through that process. That's probably all I can say at this point regarding him, but we don't take him for granted. We love him, this city loves him. He means the world to us and this franchise."

Amid a bevy of reports that James is strongly considering leaving Cleveland to play somewhere else, the Cavs controlled all they could last night in deciding to draft highly touted former Alabama point guard Collin Sexton eighth overall. While Sexton apparently impressed the Cavs enough for them to make him the first point guard to come off the board, it begs questioning whether the move will be enough to entice James to remain with the team.

"That's a great question," Altman said, when asked if he thought LeBron would enjoy playing alongside Sexton next season. "He went through it this year a little bit with some of our young guys, especially in the playoffs. What's amazing, he talks about this all the time - the best teacher is experience. And our guys, our young guys, got some really good experience this year. And while it wasn't consistent throughout the playoffs, each guy picked that [up], had their moments. And we went through two Game 7s and got to a Finals, and that experience is a huge teacher for those guys.

"So that experience is amazing for them and their confidence level as they approach next year. And then Collin, we got to get there with experience as well. But like he says, experience is the best teacher, and we gave those guys a great experience over 30 games and into the playoffs and into the Finals, and what does that mean for us moving forward, I think it's all really positive."

Among the other things, Altman said Thursday team owner Dan Gilbert is committed to winning another championship and will "spare no expense" when it comes to financially backing a squad capable of doing just that. In wake of Kawhi Leonard reportedly wanting to be traded, The Plain Dealer reported that the Cavaliers were one of several teams that placed a call to the Spurs about Leonard's availability. 

If James does indeed opt out of his contract, then he'll become an unrestricted free agent. ESPN has reported that if such a scenario were to come to fruition, then the Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and Golden State Warriors would be the teams James would meet with.